D-Day Memorial prepares for 65th anniversary

By Justin Faulconer Lynchburg News & Advance

Roanoke,Va - The weak economy is causing the National D-Day Memorial to go on the offense in funding its most anticipated event since its 2001 dedication.

Eight years after roughly 22,000 people swarmed the ceremony and President Bush spoke of Bedford’s role in losing the most men in D-Day per capita, the memorial is gearing up for the 65th anniversary June 6.

Shannon Brooks, associate for research and publications, said this year’s event could perhaps be the last chance to properly honor the veterans — the young-est of whom are in their 80s — who served. “From a mathematical point of view, the 70th anniversary really isn’t going to find many of these people here anymore,” Brooks said. “We’re really trying to draw as many veterans, D-Day and World War II, as we can to this event.”

The memorial expects to draw from 6,000 to 8,000 veterans and guests to its four-day anniversary of the anniversary. Seating, shut-tles, shelter, programs, signage and other needs are mounting but now it is harder than ever to seek financial donations because of the state of the economy, Brooks said. “We have been seeking funds for this event since last June but the world is a very different place now and it shows,” she said. “Businesses and corporations are not able to do that amount of giving anymore.” For the first time since opening in 2001, the memorial is host-ing a luminary drive called “Flames of Memory.”

The goal is to sell 500 luminaries, which are small battery-operated bulbs in white bags that would be used to illuminate the memorial’s plaza June 6 after dark to remember the fallen soldiers. “At the end of the day we want people to remember there are a lot of men who never walked away from Normandy that day,” Brooks said. Each luminary costs $20 or six for $100.

Brooks said a goal of selling 500 would secure funds needed for this year’s event. Brooks called the project the memorial’s own “war bond drive”, comparing it to times during World War II when people contributed financially to the war effort. “People are losing their jobs,” she said of the economy. “We know that. Times were hard then, too. But people somehow found a way to look beyond this very frightening present to think about a future.”

The memorial will stay open until 10 p.m. June 6 so visitors can view the nighttime illumination along the necrology wall, which bears the names of all Allied servicemen killed in action during D-day. “Nothing was the same after this day,” said Brooks. “When you look out across the plaza and you see D-Day veterans … we all realize that we’re there to recognize what this tiny fraction of us did for all the rest of us.” The memorial is hoping to sell the luminaries by March 23.